Sunnyvale City Council endorses two local ballot measures, neutral on two others

Two Nov. 5 ballot measures now have the endorsements of Sunnyvale City Council members, who were split 4-3 in their vote to get behind the increase in the transient occupancy tax, or TOT, and the Sunnyvale School District's bond measure.

On Sept. 24, the city council went back and forth as to whether it should take a stance on the four measures on this election's ballot. The council decided not to take a position on Measure A, which would switch municipal elections from odd to even years, or on Measure C, which would implement a set of gun safety measures.

The city council put these two measures on the ballot earlier this year, along with Measure B, which would increase the TOT charged to people who stay in Sunnyvale hotels and motels.

Measure G is a school bond measure proposed by the Sunnyvale School District's board of education. The $96 million bond would average a yearly cost to property owners in the school district of $15 per $100,000 of assessed valuation, not market value.

During the public hearing, council members heard from a total of eight speakers, all of whom were opponents of Measure C.

The measure would implement four gun safety regulations, including reporting to police, within 48 hours, of a known loss or theft of a firearm; storing firearms in residences in a locked container or disabling them with a trigger lock when not in the owner's immediate possession; prohibiting the possession of ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds, with certain exceptions; and logging and tracking of ammunition sales within the city of Sunnyvale.

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Two of the Measure C opponents included Eric Fisher, owner of U.S. Firearms on S. Mary Avenue, who said it would hurt local business, and local business owner and Sunnyvale resident Kirk Vartan, who said more thought should be put into implementing such regulations.

"My concern is that people are trying to pass laws just because they feel they need to do something and doing nothing is unacceptable," Vartan said during the meeting. "I would challenge you to look a little bit deeper and don't just do a knee-jerk reaction to what you think is the right thing, because that's what a lot of people are trying to do or are talking about, and when these laws are eroded or our rights are eroded, they don't come back."

Councilman Dave Whittum moved to adopt an opposing position to Measure C, but it died for a lack of a second.

In one sweeping motion, the council voted to not take a stance on Measures A and C and to endorse Measure B and in a separate motion voted to support Measure G.

"Measure B directly impacts the operation of the city, it directly impacts services that we will be getting or not getting over the next however many years; that's why we put it on the ballot, " Vice Mayor Jim Griffith said. "I supported putting A on in particular, I'm a co-signer of the argument, but both on A and C, I would just much rather let the chips fall where they may and have the voters tell us what they think on both of them."

Meyering dissented on every motion, stating that it was improper for the council to endorse the measures on the ballot.

"I think it's inconsistent for the council to put measures on the ballot and indicate it's for the voters, the taxpayers, to decide and then take their unique position as council members and say we as a body recommend that the taxpayers suspend their own analysis and adopt the analysis of this council as a body," Meyering said. "I think that's improper."